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The OWF "Eat 'Til You Drop" Tour: Long Island Part 2

After Melissa and I toured Long Island's North Fork with Lenn, both he and our host Louisa suggested we spend our second day on the South Fork.

Old Field Vineyard
"But first," Louisa told us, "you have to visit Old Field Vineyard. I'll call ahead." She and the Baiz's go way back: The year after she and Alex planted vines, Chris Baiz used clippings from their vineyard to start his own.

Perry Weiss, Chris and Ros's friendly daughter who manages the tasting room and helps manage the waterfront vineyard with her mom, greeted us when we arrived and introduced ourselves. She told us how they fared through the rains: not well. Their normal harvest is around two tons per acre, but she and her mom were anticipating half that yield, though the grapes that survived promise good wine. Ros and a team were harvesting as we visited, salvaging what they could and sending the grapes to Eric Frye at Lenz, who makes the Old Field wines at that facility.

We tasted through their current releases, and I found an enticing earthiness alongside the fruit in the red wines. I appreciated the reined-in tannins, and I imagine the wines would pair with a range of foods. My personal favorite was the 2002 Cabernet Franc, a fountain of mushrooms and earthiness with a dollop of fruit that enlivens the mouth with a robust acidity and low tannins.

We reluctantly said our farewells, bundled into our beacon of a bright yellow rental, and headed east to Greenport, the launch point for the car ferries that take you to Sag Harbor and the Hamptons.

Channing Daughters
The Hamptons have a mythic quality for me, even though I've lived in California for close to thirty years. We envisioned celebrities and mansions scattered throughout the many towns that end in "-hampton," the source of the region's nickname. In reality, the houses we saw looked like normal country houses and the people we saw looked like normal people. But we weren't trying too hard: We had wineries to visit.

The staff at Channing Daughters in Bridgehampton must have been curious about us. Lenn called ahead to tell them we were coming, and so did Louisa. When we introduced ourselves, they treated us like long-lost family. Larry Perrine, the president and CEO, came out to talk to us about the winery, and Chris Tracy, the wine maker, popped in when the rush of incoming grapes stopped for a moment. Chris has lived in Oakland, and we quickly swapped favorite spots. I think we owe him a half-baked Zachary's pizza on our next visit.

It didn't take long to realize why Channing Daughter's wines sell out so quickly. The wines have a vibrant flavor and a casual friendliness. "I concentrate on suppleness and finesse," says Tracy, and it shows in the wine. The tannins are held in check, and the alcohol is low. The wines have a pleasant, but not searing, acidity. When they poured us the "Pinot Envy," which smells of Maraschino cherries, I was shocked: I've seen California rosés that are darker. "You don't keep the juice on the skins very long, do you?" I asked. Perrine just smiled. The more time a wine spends in contact with the color-carrying grape peels, the more color it gets. But the color comes with tannins, which need higher, and less food-friendly, alcohol levels to counterbalance them and give the suppleness Tracy seeks. It's a curious vinification strategy when American critics favor robust and alcohol-heavy wines.

The winery's also chosen an unusual set of grapes to ferment. They pour the Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc you'll find throughout the East End, but we also tasted their Tocai Friuliano and Blaufranckish. These aren't popular varieties in the United States, but the Channing Daughters bottlings make that seem like a shortcoming in American buying habits.

Allison Dubin, the general manager, showed us around the winery, describing the operation in her fast-paced speech. It's astonishingly small, given the volume and variety of wine they produce. She started to lead us to the sculpture garden that owner Walter Channing has filled with his works, but we had to cut our visit short, as the hour was getting late.

Wölffer Estate
We didn't have anyone call ahead for us when we visited Wölffer. We had met Roman Roth, the wine maker, at Shinn the previous day, and we figured we'd just ask for him when we showed up at the Napa-esque winery, an Italian villa grafted onto the South Fork.

But Roman was in New York City for the Wine Spectator Wine Experience. So we decided to be anonymous visitors so that we could get back to the North Fork in time for dinner.

What a difference in treatment! We had to fight to get any attention from the tasting room staff, who barely remembered we were there, rarely poured us new tastes without us prompting them, and seemed more interested in talking about parties and makeup than wine.

But Wölffer has earned its prestige. The wines were crafted well, and I particularly liked the 2001 Estate Selection Merlot, with its aromas of blackberries and nectarines, good mouthfeel, and low tannins.

We sped home to Louisa's house, where she was cooking dinner for us, Lenn and Nena, and her son Zander and his fiancée. We had a great time visiting the area and getting to know the wineries, but we were excited to get to Manhattan. Come back soon to read about The Ultimate Lavish Dinner, a reunion of co-workers three thousand miles from where we met.

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